The motorman was found at fault for alcohol intoxication and excessive speed, and served time in prison for manslaughter.

The motorman assigned to operate the train, 38-year old Robert E. Ray, reported to the Woodlawn terminal on the 4 route to begin his eight-hour shift at 11:30 p.m. on August 27, 1991, fifteen minutes late.

[1] During the night of August 27–28, 1991, there was construction on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line that required southbound express trains to switch to the local track.

[8] When Ray regained consciousness, he stated: I remembered that it was cloudy, smoke all over the place and I was thinking to myself “what the heck happened” and then I thought “oh man… I must have an accident””.

[3] Working conditions at the site were very cramped and hot, and it took until approximately 3:30 a.m.[1][3][9] until Darden, the off-duty conductor on board and last remaining injured passenger, was extracted from the train.

[8] Ray later said that he had drunk heavily the day before his work shift because he was depressed that his ex-girlfriend would not let him see their two children, and that at the time of the accident he had fallen asleep.

[8] The facts that Ray had overshot the first two stops in the Bronx and had been warned repeatedly by Beerram and Darden to reduce his speed, and had not braked approaching 14th Street–Union Square,[11] were brought up in the ensuing trial.

[14] The day after the crash, the MTA announced that it would start randomly checking subway motormen and bus drivers for illegal substances, such as drugs or alcohol.

In addition, the NYCTA added diverging grade time signals to force trains to slow down earlier before crossing between tracks.

[19][20] A 1992 study commissioned after the accident by the NYCTA found that some signals in the subway system, including several on the Lexington Avenue line, were spaced too closely for a train traveling at maximum speed to have time to stop, confirming the finding of safety investigators immediately after the crash; the issue resurfaced after a rear-end collision on the Williamsburg Bridge in 1995.